iPhone Stress Test @ PC World

[dstrauss]

You know, I just never understand the idiots that complain because a scren gets scratched by PUTTING THE PHONE IN THE SAME POCKET WITH YOUR KEYS. Maybe there's hope for them after all. That "real life" testing, however, is pretty amazing. My Blackjack would have been in a dozen pieces after the first fall.

[marcol]

Originally Posted by bruckwine

Well it didn't have anything to do with the screen type, but the fact that they encased said screen in glass. Glass might be the way forward!

You're right about the glass but not with 'it didn't have anything to do with the screen type'. Capacitive screens work by charge transfer (from the screen to the finger) but resistive screens (such as found on Treos and nearly every touchscreen phone) work by deformation of the outer layer so that it touches the layer below. A consequence of this is that capacitive screens can be made of something very hard (like glass) but the outer layer of a resistive screen has to be much softer (so it can be deformed by a finger, stylus etc).

[bruckwine]

Originally Posted by marcol

You're right about the glass but not with 'it didn't have anything to do with the screen type'. Capacitive screens work by charge transfer (from the screen to the finger) but resistive screens (such as found on Treos and nearly every touchscreen phone) work by deformation of the outer layer so that it touches the layer below. A consequence of this is that capacitive screens can be made of something very hard (like glass) but the outer layer of a resistive screen has to be much softer (so it can be deformed by a finger, stylus etc).

Ah.Oooh. :thumbsup:

[marcol]

Originally Posted by bruckwine

Ah.Oooh. :thumbsup:

It is indeed a very good thing

Also, capacitive screens don't need the nasty bezel found around most (all?) resistive touchscreens so you can have the nice smooth look of the iPhone and LG Prada.

The downside of course is that you have to use something that will conduct charge (like a finger). Obviously that's fine for the iPhone (unless you're wearing gloves) but AFAIK precludes the use of a stylus. If that's so, I wouldn't expect to see mass adoption of capacitive screens on devices from other manufactures because it would necessitate a complete UI redesign (so all touching of the screen is done with a finger). Alternatively, perhaps someone could make a conductive stylus that works?

[specimen38]

Anyone ever see a stress test conducted on a HTC touch or LG Prada? Any phone?